“The people of Minden and its surrounding communities have grown up either volunteering or seeing their families volunteer at the auction,” she said. “It is true that we have had many patients from our area, but I think the main reason people participate is that they were raised up, so to speak, doing this at the auction. Either by volunteering, giving, or just watching — we now can say we have third-generation adults that are volunteers.

“I got involved much the same way everyone else does — it was where and what everyone you know was doing and being and helping, and so it began for me probably 25 years ago. Back then, there were no computers and everyone had to bring their phones from home — of course no cell phones.”

Now, the event is available through live audio, live video stream, local cable broadcast, as well as radio.

The auction was started 39 years ago as a one-day radio event by Frank Treat, whose daughter, Anne, was treated for leukemia at St. Jude. After her death, he felt the need to give back. That first auction brought in about $10,000.

The annual check written to St. Jude has been more than $1 million for the last few years. Next year, the 40th anniversary, the goal will be even higher than this year’s $1.3 million.

“We are always are thinking of new events to add to generate more money each year,” Brown said. “The race added a 10K this past year, which was very successful. A fishing tourney held after the auction will be new dollars next year.”

The Minden event is one of approximately 31,000 coordinated annually by volunteers and ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude.

Support also comes from special fundraising campaigns such as St. Jude Thanks and Giving, Math-A-Thon, Trike-A-Thon and the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, which started in Shreveport and has spread across the nation.

That may sound like too much , but it takes a huge amount of money to operate the health care and research facility, rated 10th on the Forbes list of 50 Largest U.S. Charities.

It will cost $885 million to run St. Jude in 2015, and 75 percent of those funds must be raised by private donations, according to Graesa Amdahl, of ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Because of this level of donor support, families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food, allowing them to focus on helping their child live.

Amdahl believes the reason St. Jude is able to sustain such overwhelming private support is simple: Its goal is finding cures and saving children, which resonates with many people, regardless of their background.

Shreveporter Heather Montelbano knows firsthand the peace of mind that comes with free care. Her 6-year-old daughter, Della Lynne, was diagnosed in March with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer that affects the white blood cells, and is under treatment by St. Jude.

Her appreciation for donors is immeasurable.

“I want to say thank you for making it possible for me to be able to take care of my child,” she said. “As a single mom, knowing that when I go to Memphis, I’m going to get reimbursed for my gas, I’m going to have a place to stay, they give me a meal credit card that’s more than enough for the two of us. They make sure that they have all of our medicines taken care of, even down to the PediaSure supplements. They send me home with cases of those so I don’t have to buy anything when I’m not there.

“People donating, even if it’s $10 a month, that makes me able to take care of my child. I just want to say thank you to everybody who does that.”